Hey guys,

The joys of being stuck in a lab watching grains move for hours is I have time to update this story! So here's the updated version of School Reunion.

Enjoy!

Robyn


The screen turned blank and the title of the next video appeared on the screen. The people in the room all glanced around to try and see if anyone was reacting to the video's title - 'School Reunion'.

The Doctor had scrunched her face up in confusion, mentally trying to figure out what the title was referring too – maybe something at the university? It hadn't been like she'd been around too many other schools in more recent years (relative to the people in the room at least). A glance around the group (in an attempt to jog her own memory) revealed that most of the group was also confused by the name.

Rose's expression, however, made her pause. Rose had her eyes narrowed at the screen in a more contemplative way then the confusion prominent on the rest of the room's faces.

"Rose?" The Doctor asked curious.

"Hmn?" Rose hummed still stuck in her own thoughts. Their exchange had succeeded in drawing the rest of the room's attention towards them though.

"You have an idea about the video?" The Doctor prompted, leaning forward slightly in her seat, gaze focussed on Rose.

"Oh? Oh, yeah." Rose jerked out of her thoughts, noticing the room's eyes on her. Noticing the Doctor's almost teasing smile she rolled her eyes before sharing her thoughts. "I was just thinking, maybe this is about that school? You know with Mickey and the bat-people? After all, we both had reunions there – me with Mickey, and you with Sarah Jane and that tin dog of yours."

"They were Krillitanes, not bat-people, but that's a fair point." The Doctor corrected (which Rose ignored) before humming her own thoughts – Rose was right, that was a good guess. Mickey was nodding along too, being the only other person to which those words meant anything.

"Bat people?" Amy asked, eyebrows raised high.

The Doctor shrugged with a smile, "I guess we'll see." She offered no other words, instead turning back to the screen to see what it would show. The rest of the group shared a fond exasperated look at the Doctor's behaviour before copying her.

The Headmaster finds a girl waiting outside his office

"You were right Rose." Mickey grinned at his friend who grinned back proudly.

"Guess we'll get to see about those bat-people then." Rory smiled at the pair.

The Doctor nodded along almost absentmindedly; this would be interesting. The whole group was going to get to see Sarah Jane and she couldn't help but mentally run through their conversations. Yes, this would be interesting indeed, it would be the first time many of them got to see her interact with a former companion (at least not through the screen), a few of them had met others but this was one Sarah Jane, who had travelled with her a long time before any of them had done so. She couldn't help but be a bit curious about how they would react – especially her newer companions, after all Donna, Marth, Jack, Mickey and Rose had all met Sarah Jane (most of them through the planets in the sky mess).

The girl has no family and is ill, the Headmaster invites her in to his office. The door closes and there is a screech, wings flapping ans a scream

"Please tell me he just let her watch a movie while she waited for someone to pick her up?" Donna asked, frowning as if she already knew the answer. Most of the group was wearing similar expressions.

The Doctor, Rose and Mickey grimaced all knowing the true nature of Mr Finch and half of the other staff. Their expressions and lack of explanations was all the answer the group needed and they all frowned more thinking about the poor girl. Clearly this video wasn't going to be as nice as it first seemed, although Rose, Mickey and the Doctor hadn't seemed too worried about it.

A new teacher arrives - The 10th Doctor is teaching physics

The room started grinning upon seeing the Doctor, especially those that knew that particular incarnation. "Are you trying to be a teacher?" Martha teased, being the only one with experience of seeing them as a teacher (bar Bill).

"What do you mean trying?" The Doctor protested as the group started snickering.

"To be fair, they made a pretty decent university tutor." Bill defended the Doctor. The snickers, however, continued when the Doctor started gesturing to her frantically as if to prove a point.

"But they're a terrible janitor." Clara added with a wide teasing grin. The Doctor just pouted as the snickers continued, everyone was far too entertained at teasing the Doctor even though they didn't quite understand half the jokes.

Physics.

Slowly, as one, the group turned to stare down the Doctor. It took a minute or two for the Doctor to realise the whole room's eyes were on her.

"What?" She looked around the room, unsure about why they were all staring unimpressed at her.

"Seriously?" Donna snorted.

"What!?" The Doctor asked becoming more confused by the second.

"How are the kids supposed to learn if all you say is 'Physics'?" Amy added in, apparently the res-heads were teaming up against her (and wasn't that a scary idea).

"What do you mean? I was talking about some easy three-fold quantum physics that I learnt when I was their age?"

This time it was the groups turn to look confused, all sharing equally bewildered looks with each other.

"No? All you said was 'physics' like a dozen times." Ryan said, uncertain. The rest of the group was nodding along in agreement while the Doctor just looked more confused.

The Master was the one to break up the confusion-party, smirking degradingly at the group. "Humans can hardly understand our level of intellect, dear. Your words probably short-circuited their little monkey brains."

His words earned him plenty of glares and protests around the 'monkey-brain' comments from the companions. The Doctor however, just sighed annoyed at his delivery and tone but did consider his words. Frowning slightly, she spoke up, "Unfortunately, for once I think he's right." She hurried to continue her explanation upon seeing all the glares turned her way. "I mean that the physics I was talking about was a bit too high level for the group, that's what we were there investigating after all. Hmm, the word literally went in one ear and out the other, interesting." She scrunched up her face in concentration, that was indeed interesting – was the Tardis just translating it as the kids heard it or would no one else in the room understood it either? She (and apparently the Master) had heard what she had intended to say but clearly no one else was, no wonder the kids had looked so confused.

The Doctor was so deep in thoughts, pondering on the phenomenon, that she missed most of the group shake their heads at her antics and mutter about crazy Time Lords.

The Doctor asks the class questions, one boy - Milo- gets them right. The Doctor says correctamundo and regrets it

"Sweetie, I love you but that is a terrible word that you should never use again, and with your vocabulary that's saying a lot." River raised an eyebrow at the Doctor.

"Hey!"

Milo keeps answering questions while everyone else is bored

"That brings back memories." Rose grinned at Mickey, as the person who had gone through school with her. "I mean the bored pupils not the genius kid." She added on at the end upon seeing a few curious looks. Mickey grinned back; it was definitely a familiar picture. The rest of the group nodded along, all thinking back on their own school days.

The Doctor asks increasingly impossible questions, Milo keeps answering to the Doctor's shock

"I don't know about anyone else but I'm pretty sure Milo should not know that much at that age, even if he was a genius." Rory pointed out, sending questioning glances at the Doctor.

"He absolutely shouldn't. That's why we were investigating – something was wrong with the school." The Doctor nodded.

In the canteen, Rose unhappily serves school dinners

The room turned to look at Rose, they'd already guessed she'd been involved in the video based on the fact she's been the one to guess its contents from the title but it was still something to see her on screen.

Rose in turn, shifted her gaze to glare at the Doctor still annoyed and disgruntled over having to be a dinner lady. She understood why, there'd only been one teacher opening and one dinner lady and the Doctor (at the time) couldn't exactly be a dinner lady, but still it was the principle of the matter. The Doctor just smiled back a bit sheepish under Rose's gaze but couldn't hide the way her lips kept twitching up into a smile.

They've been there two days, the Doctor teases her

The group couldn't help but start chuckling at the pair's interaction, it was very typical Doctor-companion behaviour with the teasing, and it was always good to enjoy the calm moments before the chaos started. Even Rose was smiling, better able to see the humour now. She still got several looks of commiseration, after all they'd all had to deal with the Doctor's antics.

Mickey is the reason they are there

The boyfriend comment drew the group's eyes to Mickey, aware that he's used to be Rose's boyfriend before she'd started travelling and with how the Doctor was still travelling with Rose it meant he hadn't meant Martha yet. Mickey just smiled proudly, offering a small wave which earned him a few grins.

The Doctor doesn't eat the chips so Rose does - they're different

Unnoticed by the rest of the group, Mickey, Rose and the Doctor shared a knowing glance – the chips were definitely different alright.

The Doctor thought the school would be less behaved, he has no clue about teenagers

Her comment on screen drew the Doctor several exasperated looks from the group (again).

"What?" She questioned, bewildered by the group's sudden exasperation with her (again).

"You have no idea about Earth schools or teenagers, do you?" Clara teased, rolling her eyes at the Doctor.

The Doctor just shrugged. "It's not like I spend much time around schools or younger teenagers." The only time she spent much time around kids were briefly during adventures, it had been a long time since she'd had her own children or grandchildren and they hadn't exactly been human. How was she supposed to know much about it all, especially recent years – it had been decades since Susan had gone to school on Earth.

The head dinner lady (Jackson) gets Rose in trouble for abandoning her post

"Ooh, Rosie. You're in trouble." Jack teased, he was enjoying the opportunity to see Rose, the Doctor and Mickey adventuring together, the last time he'd seen them together (before the planets in the sky mess) was their trip to Cardiff which had ended with Mikey leaving. It definitely brought back good memories. Rose just rolled her eyes at him but didn't hide the smile that broke across her face.

Jackson is not impressed with Rose's excuses or the Doctor's dislike of the chips - which are part of a menu designed by the Headmaster to improve performance

"Okay, so that is suspicious." Yaz narrowed her eyes, they'd already seen (vaguely) that the headmaster wasn't what he seemed, something was up. The Doctor smiled softly at her, lips twitching up into a proud smile but didn't say anything.

Rose is very annoyed with the Doctor

That drew laughter out of the group again, as the Doctor grinned teasingly at Rose who shot him a (mostly) mock glare.

A teacher talks to the kids taking some for extra classes, Kenny doesn't eat the chips. The Headmaster watches over

"Okay, I'm getting creepy vibes from these teachers." Bill declared, glancing between the screen and the trio in the room. The Doctor just shrugged noncommittedly which only served to make Bill more suspicious. The Doctor was starting to enjoy knowing the answers to the lighter videos as it was fun to tease her friends.

The dinner ladies wheel a cooking oil drum through, being very careful with it and wearing heavy protection

"That's a lot of protection and safety measures for a barrel of cooking oil." Martha said, eyes narrowed at the screen. Whatever was going on in this school had something to do with the food then, which did not sound good by any standard.

Mickey phones Rose, he has confirmation

"Confirmation of what?" Graham asked the pair who just smiled at each other before waving at the screen – happy to be the ones in the know this time.

He's hacked army records and found UFO activity several months ago

"You got into army records? Did you hack them?" Yaz interrogated, this was a situation where she was stuck between being a police officer and also her travels with the Doctor (which had taught her sometimes you needed to do things like hack army record to save people).

"I'm pretty good with computers. Only gotten better since then." Mickey shrugged, but his smile told the group how proud he was of his skills.

He can't get further as Torchwood is blocking access

Upon seeing the words Torchwood, Jack started grinning while the Doctor rolled her eyes. Jack turned his grin on Mickey who just shook his head, it was weird to think that he knew nothing about Torchwood back then, especially now that he had worked for them (on the parallel world) and knowing Jack who led Torchwood three.

About the same time several teachers and kitchen staff were replaced, Mickey was right to call them back. Rose thought maybe he just wanted her back

The group shifted a bit uncomfortable upon seeing the (clearly) private relationship drama from the younger versions of Rose and Mickey. The Doctor glanced quickly at the pair before glancing away, she was ashamed to say that she had considered that Mickey had called just to see Rose at the time and she still felt guilty for separating the two even though they were both happy now.

Mickey and Rose met each other's eyes, having a silent conversation – they'd been a lot younger back then and far more insecure about themselves and their relationship. Looking back, it was hard to believe how much they'd matured sometimes, they were both confident and happy in both their relationships and current lives. Things had been rough at times but it was worth it in the end.

Mickey denies it

Rory couldn't help but offer Mickey a sympathetic look, he understood the other man's worries – Amy had run off with the Doctor with barely a thought to the fact she was getting married to him, but the difference between them was he'd ended up with Amy anyway but Mickey and Rose had ended up with others (but no less happy).

Every time he sees her an emergency interferes. Talking of - the oil barrel topples over splashing a woman who screams

"You know you just proved him right." Nardole said.

"Shut up Nardole." The Doctor sighed upon seeing Rose's guilty face.

Rose hangs up on Mickey with no explanation

"Well, that explains that." Mickey muttered, but offered a smile to Rose, he didn't blame her anymore.

The injured woman is hustled away, Jackson denies anything is wrong despite more screams and sounds of fire

"That does not sound alright." Amy raised her eyebrow at the screen.

Rose notices the spilt oil has eaten through metal

"That's definitely not cooking oil." Bill exclaimed, sitting up straighter in her seat. The rest of the group also looked alarmed at the 'oil'. Something really weird was going on at this school.

In an IT class kids put on headphones and enter a trance as they type rapidly with symbols on the screen

"What are they doing to those kids!" Martha protested, glancing concerned between the trio in the room and the screen. Said trio just shared a look but didn't offer any answers.

"The kids, weird teachers, and something is up with the food. What isn't wrong with this school?" Clara snorted, but her concern was obvious in her eyes – she was a (former) teacher so this video was both interesting and concerning her.

Finch (the Headmaster) is talking to a familiar investigative reporter - Sarah Jane Smith is back

Those that knew Sarah Jane, so Rose, Mickey, Martha, Donna, Jack and the Doctor, all perked up grinning upon seeing the former companion and famed investigative reporter. The Doctor's expression was so fond and wistful that it was almost painful for anyone to look at.

The rest of the room had noticed the way that half the group perked up, sending them curious looks but didn't ask any questions knowing the chance of them being answered was slim and they'd likely find out soon anyway.

The Master (who'd had the misfortune of having met and had plans foiled by Sarah Jane) just glared at the screen. It was bad enough that the Doctor picked up new companions constantly but re-uniting with older companions (and yet still ignoring him) was just infuriating.

Finch discusses new school policies such as the lunches being free but compulsory

"Okay, so they have absolutely done something to the chips, which is sacrilege." Bill said, narrowing her yes at Mr Finch, she did not like him, not just because of the chips (but that was bad – she was a former chip girl after all), everything about him was creeping her out. The Doctor just smiled fondly at her, glad to see familiar behaviour from the young woman.

Sarah is suspicious and very practised at investigating - Finch is oblivious to her true intentions

"She's not taking his nonsense." Jack grinned, happy to see the other former companion on screen. He'd met up with Sarah Jane a few times after the planet in the sky mess, and she'd introduced him to several of the Doctor's other companions that were still on Earth. They had plenty in common and it was always good to be able to talk to others who had experienced similar things to him.

"She never does. Not from anyone." The Doctor grinned, proud and fondness clear on her face. She was practically bouncing in her seat in her excitement.

The Doctor is gathering info from the other teachers about Finch and change in staff. The teacher the Doctor replaced suddenly won the lottery despite never playing

"You couldn't at least be a little more subtle?" River sighed at her wife, she always used the same tactics and could be very dumb sometimes. The Doctor just grinned with a shrug, completely unrepentant (and far too excited to see more of Sarah Jane).

Finch enters and introduces Sarah Jane as a journalist writing an article about him before leaving

"Sarah Jane Smith? Isn't that the investigative journalist who looks at some weirder stuff? I think I've read some of her stuff." Graham asked thoughtful.

"Didn't you mention her earlier?" Yaz said, combing through her memories of their time in the room (she'd learnt a lot about the Doctor in a short amount of time but she was sure she'd heard someone mention the name Sarah Jane Smith).

"Yeah, isn't that the former companion of yours that you dropped in Aberdeen instead of London?" Ryan added, drawing a rapid nod of agreement from Yaz.

The Doctor grinned, "Yep, that's my Sarah Jane. This was the first time I'd met her since I dropped her off in my fourth face." Her tone and face turned more wistful and sadder. "It was a long time ago, even longer now. But she was as amazing as always."

The rest of the companions all shared a glance as the Doctor was distracted. They couldn't help but think about if the Doctor would talk about them like that when they had/did leave them.

Sarah Jane says hello, the Doctor is visibly excited

"You're so excited." Rose shook her head fondly. She wasn't looking forward to how jealous she was going to seem, especially now that she understood Srah Jane so much better now, but she couldn't do anything about that. Watching the video was rather telling though, it was entertaining to see how excited the Doctor was to see Sarah Jane (now that she wasn't distracted by her drama with Mickey and jealousy over the Doctor).

The Doctor's grin was all the answer she needed (and the way the Doctor was fidgeting, unable to stay still in her excitement).

SARAH: And, you are?
DOCTOR: Hm? Er, Smith. John Smith.
SARAH: John Smith. I used to have a friend who sometimes went by that name.

"You do use that name far too often." Donna pointed out, almost accusingly.

The Doctor shrugged, "It's a common name."

"Real question is what name are you going to use now?" Martha asked, she'd heard the Doctor use the name John Smith so many times. Any time she heard the name, even now, she thought about him (the first while after leaving him, she'd been convinced every John Smith she met could be him).

"What do you mean? Why can't I use John Smith still?" The Doctor asked, face scrunched up in (adorable) confusion.

The group shared nervous glances, no one wanting to hurt the Doctor's feelings on this matter and unsure how to explain exactly.

Bill being one of the most aware about these things, took a deep breath before trying to explain. "Well, 'cause you look like a woman now and humans can be a bit funny about this stuff. John is a very typical male name, which you don't look anymore. Not that that should matter, but you spend a lot of time in the past and it would draw a lot of attention. Attention that you don't really need when you want to adventure."

The Doctor nodded along considering, but frowning. Eventually she sighed, "Maybe you're right. I'll have to think about a name for at least my travels to the past. I'll likely keep Smith though, maybe Jo? I don't know." The group let out quite sighs at avoiding a debate over the bad habits of humanity, and turned back to the screen as the Doctor kept muttering to herself about possible names.

The Doctor is very very excited but not telling Sarah Jane who he is

"You're not going to tell her?" Amy asked, confused.

"Not yet, didn't want an audience." The Doctor explained, distracted from her thoughts over names.

"You almost gave it away with your excitement. She's going to be suspicious of you now." Clara sighed fondly, shaking her head as the Doctor just grinned uncaring. Sarah Jane's appearance had been so unexpected and she'd gotten too excited to think properly.

Sarah asks him about the school, she admits to doing a bit of investigating while she's there when h admits its his second day

"So, you're off the suspect list, but she still thinks there is something weird about you." Martha summarised the interaction.

"There is something weird about her. She is weird." Donna announced, to agreeing nods form the rest of the group to which the Doctor shrugged, she couldn't argue that.

End of the day, Kenny walks into a dark room to investigate an eating noise and glimpses a large set of teeth from behind a row of computers before a teacher stands up and sends him away

"Bat people?" Jack asked, face revealing he already knew the answer and didn't like it.

The trio shared a glance before nodding in confirmation.

After dark, Sarah Jane breaks into the school. So do Rose, Mickey and the Doctor. Rose admits to thinking the teachers slept in school when she was a kid

Rose looked around the group a bit embarrassed, but the group just smiled and nodded along. Everyone had weird thoughts about school as kids and this school was absolutely weird.

The Doctor struggles with a group name

The Doctor found herself facing down her current three companions who were all staring intensely at her. "You should go back to that belief, cockle." Graham said.

"Yeah, Graham's right." Ryan nodded (with Yaz beside him nodding too), the three of them had had to suffer the Doctor's attempts to name them for too long.

"Nah, you're my team, my gang, my fam!" The Doctor declared, bouncing in her seat only to be met with groans by the trio while the rest of the room watched on entertained. The trio missed the Doctor's triumphant grin at annoying them.

They split up to investigate

"Good, you actually have a plan." Rory nodded, glad to see the Doctor having a plan for once.

"It won't last long." Amy countered with a fond smile.

Mickey is already lost

The group burst out laughing, with Mickey along side them. It was both embarrassing and interesting to watch the younger versions of themselves, but it was far more entertaining now then it would have been back then.

Rose gets an oil sample and finds something overhead, Sarah Jane chases something flying

The group watched the scenes getting more and more troubled by the situation in the school. The repeated mention of bat-people and the knowledge about the kids in danger was worrying them. The only reassurance they had was how at ease the trio who had actually been there seemed to be. Whatever happened apparently wasn't catastrophic and had been dealt with, but seeing their friends in danger was always worrying.

Sarah Jane opens a storeroom to find the Tardis

"She's found you." Jack grinned, happy to see the Doctor reveal themselves to Sarah Jane. He had many feelings on the matter, and couldn't help but think of his own reunion with the Doctor.

"Did you have to be so dramatic?" Clara sighed in fond exasperation. No matter what Doctor it was, some things never changed.

"Yes." The Doctor answered, eyes locked to the screen.

"Which question are you answering yes to, Sweetie?" River teased her wife, drawing the Doctor's gaze away from the screen (and Sarah Jane on screen).

"Both?" The Doctor answered unsure.

"You didn't even hear what they said did you?"

"Maybe?"

The Doctor greets her, she instantly declares he regenerated

"No doubt at all, she knows you too well." Rose smiles softly at the Doctor; she'd had her own doubts after watching the Doctor regenerate but Sarah Jane knew them too well to second guess it.

They catch up a little. The Doctor's there to investigate and asks Sarah Jane why she's there

"Knowing Sarah Jane, probably exactly the same." Jack laughed.

Sarah Jane thought he was dead as she waited and he didn't come back. The Doctor tells her everyone else died

That dampened the atmosphere in the toom drastically, everyone making the connection that this was after the Time War but before they (knew they) saved Gallifrey. The Doctor had stopped fidgeting and curled in on herself slightly, thoughts about to plummet but River and Jack grabbed a hand each to offer comfort.

The reunion is interrupted by Mickey screaming

The group whipped around to face Mickey, concerned after hearing his scream. The Doctor and Rose, however, were trying to hide their snickers while Mickey just rolled his eyes at the pair of them.

Sarah Jane can now believe this is all real

"What does it say about you that it took someone screaming for her to believe it was really you?" Amy teased, glad for the distraction and happy for the Doctor to be reunited with an old friend, one that they clearly cared about very much.

"That I'm interesting?"

"That's one word for it, Spaceman."

Rose joins them and demands to know who Sarah Jane is

"Ooh, jealous Rosie?" Jack noticed, turning to Rose with lips twitching into a grin.

"Don't remind me."

They do snippy introductions, Sarah Jane calls Rose his assistant, she denies it

"This is going to be embarrassing, isn't it?" Rose bemoaned while Mickey nodded and the Doctor groaned in sympathy. Both of them were going to have to deal with their choices during the video, the joys of youthful decisions.

"I have to ask, assistant?" Yaz questioned.

The Doctor sighed but answered. "I met Sarah Jane when I was still on Earth working for UNIT. Originally she was my lab assistant before travelling with me." Rose blinked, she hadn't known that and had been too distracted by her jealousy to question it but that did make some sense.

They find Mickey, he was looking through cupboards and things fell on him

The room let out a breath they didn't know they'd been holding upon seeing Mickey not in any danger, instead they started snickering at the sight of him by the cupboard, while Mickey just groaned – it was embarrassing but he had been very surprised to have the rats fall on him.

Its vacuum packed rats

"Rats? Why are there rats in a school?" Ryan asked, grimacing at the sight of the rats.

"Well, in my day we used to dissect them and frogs in biology." Graham answered his grandson, neither noticing the looks Rose, Mickey and the Doctor shared. This conversation was very familiar.

"Yeah, but that was the olden days. No one does that in school anymore." Ryan shot back.

"Hey! It wasn't that long ago."

"You're old Graham."

"You're not exactly a spring chicken anymore, Ryan."

The Doctor teases him for screaming like a little girl

The group started chuckling at the pair, interested to see the early dynamics between the pair. Rose just sighed in fond exasperation, "Honestly, both of you are so childish." Mickey and the Doctor just grinned at her unrepentant.

Rose comments on the weirdness of the rats, Sarah Jane mentions dissection in biology which they don't do anymore; snippy age comments are exchanged

"Deja Vu." The Doctor muttered, cringing away from the screen a bit. She'd been unaware (well, not unaware, more ignoring) the turbulent meeting between Rose and Sarah Jane, and it was uncomfortable to watch now. She wasn't exactly good at social situations and relationships (never had been really) but she was a bit more aware than she was back then (or she hoped so anyway).

Rose also cringed, aware of heat rushing to her cheeks. This really was going to be embarrassing, and she'd called Mickey and the Doctor childish – yet here she was squabbling with Sarah Jane. She'd still been trying to establish her relationship with the new Doctor, and between Mickey calling them home and Sarah Jane's appearance she'd been so unsure of where she'd stood and lashed out at Sarah Jane. To be fair, it also wasn't just her, Sarah Jane had also gone along with their fights (likely because of her own nerves and uncertainties over where she stood with the new Doctor). The Doctor also hadn't helped by ignoring the situation.

They move to check Finch's office. Rose still wants to know who Sarah Jane is

"For some reason, I don't quite believe the whole 'not to be rude' comment." Mickey grinned teasingly at Rose, who turned around and tried to hit him. Unfortunately, she couldn't quite reach him, but Martha glanced at her and turned to elbow her husband in the side for Rose. That earned her a grin from Rose and a mock scowl from her husband.

Martha could understand where Rose was coming from in the video, heavens know she'd spent most of her time with the Doctor being jealous over Rose who wasn't even around. Being here in this room, and watching these videos was giving her a better appreciation for a lot of things, and it was nice to be able to spend time with old friends without imminent danger (just emotional trauma). It was also nice to see the Doctor again, and get the chance to meet all these new people they travelled with.

Sarah Jane tells them she used to travel with the Doctor, he's never mentioned her

The group shifted uncomfortable in their seats, all thinking back to their own travels with the Doctor. Most of them hadn't heard of the people that had travelled with the Doctor before them, or of they had it was only one or two names, never a full list.

Rose frowned, glancing between the Doctor and the screen. The Doctor was looking at the floor, hands curled tight into fists – probably thinking back to all those that had travelled with her in the past (most of whom were lost to her). Rose sighed, "I'm sorry Doctor, that was a bit insensitive."

The Doctor glanced up at her, expression troubled and grieving. "It's fine Rose. I didn't mention Sarah Jane before, didn't really want to think about anything from before the war, that mess is on me."

That only made Rose frown more. "Maybe, but I didn't need to rub it in." The Doctor hummed noncommittedly, eyes turning back to the floor. She missed the concerned look that Jack and River shared over her head.

"Do you mind if I ask how many people have travelled with you?" Bill asked, she looked a bit nervous about asking the question but her curiosity had won out in the end.

The question at least distracted the Doctor from her spiralling thoughts. She glanced up at Bill, tilting her head to the side while she scrunched up her face as she thought about it. "Including you all? It depends, some only travelled with me once or other things, and people like River and Jack are a bit different. But people like most of you? Roughly, 40 odd people maybe? I remember them all but it's hard to keep track sometimes." The names were racing through her head – Ian, Barbra, Susan, Adric, Jamie, Peri, Teagan, Zoe, Nyssa, Jo, Polly, Dodo, Ace and more – and it only served to make her more wistful.

The room was silent, all deep in thought. They all knew they weren't the first, and being in the room and watching these videos had only informed them of several former companions, but to know there was that many people who had travelled with the Doctor was almost overwhelming. Although, it wasn't actually that long a list when you consider how old the Doctor is, and that there were often several companions at one time.

They enter the office discussing the idea that the rats may be food. They find giant bats hanging from the ceiling of the office

"Ah, Bat-people." Rory muttered, their earlier comments now making a lot more sense.

"I'm going for the rats being food for them." Clara grimaced; it was preferable to the other option but still this school was getting worse as the video went on.

Mickey runs, the others follow slower

The group started chuckling at seeing Mickey run while of the rest of the group remained much calmer. It really showed that Mickey was much newer to everything compared to the others. Even the Mickey in the room was shaking his head at the onscreen version of himself.

The new people with Finch are all big bat people - thirteen of them

"Great, they outnumber you 3 to 1." Martha sighed, wasn't that just typical. Even with Sarah Jane's assistance they were still vastly outnumbered and they weren't exactly in a secluded place to deal with the bat-people, a school was a horrible place to try and deal with everything.

Sarah Jane offers her help to analyse the oil

The Doctor perked up in her seat, shifting closer to the edge in her excitement to see K9 again, it had been a long time since she's seen him last. Honestly, it would be a good excuse to visit Sarah Jane again, plus her new appearance may confuse Sarah jane for all of two minutes.

Outside, in Sarah Jane's car is K9. The Doctor is very excited to see him

"A robot dog? You made a robot dog?" Yaz questioned, eyebrows raised high in disbelief. These videos some how managed to keep surprising her.

"Yep! He's the best dog ever." The Doctor grinned proudly, completely ignorant to the exasperated looks the group was all giving each other. Even the Master rolled his eyes at her excitement (typical that she would prefer a robotic dog to his company).

He broke down one day, the Doctor asks if she tried to repair him

"I don't exactly think there's many places you could take a robotic dog to be fixed without getting questioned, and that's if you could even find someone who could fix it." Amy pointed out, raising an eyebrow at the Doctor who just shrugged a bit sheepish.

Sarah Jane couldn't (obviously). They're being watched

The room was instantly on edge upon seeing something watching the group. Rose, Mickey and the Doctor shared a glance, they hadn't been aware of being watched then. They'd all gotten distracted by Sarah Jane and K9's introduction that they'd half-forgotten there was still imminent danger.

One of the bats flies through the sky

"They must have heard you in the school." Jack pointed out, face troubled.

"Probably when Mickey started screaming." The Doctor teased, she was at ease with the contents of this video so far and while she knew there was a few rocky moments ahead, it was nothing in comparison to some of the videos they'd already seen.

"Maybe we would have gotten away unnoticed if you hadn't stopped to play with the tin dog." Mickey shot back, smile on his face making it clear he was teasing.

"Maybe if the pair of you would shut up, we could see the rest of the video!" Rose interrupted, earning looks of surrender form the pair. Neither of them was willing to risk Rose's wrath, even for this joke.

They move to a coffee shop. Rose and Mickey are at the counter while the Doctor and Sarah Jane have K9 on a table

"Did you seriously just take it to a café? Don't you think people would ask questions?" Donna asked, shaking her head at the Doctor.

"It's not like people normally ask questions, plus we could have always made up a lie about it being a model or something if someone did ask." The Doctor shrugged, in her experience humans weren't exactly the most observant species at times.

Mickey is teasing Rose about Sarah Jane

The group was grinning at the young pair of Mickey and Rose on screen. The Doctor couldn't deny she was curious about their conversation, she hadn't heard it the first time but by the end of this adventure Mickey had joined them to Rose's frustration.

Rose and Mickey (in the room) shared a silent conversation. Their time on the parallel world together had given them plenty of time to sort through their issues and they were both happy with their lives now but it was unarguably weird to see themselves on screen like this.

Mickey keeps teasing her, Rose denies that the Doctor's like any other guy. Mickey tells her to go easy on the chips

"Mickey!" Martha exclaimed at the subtle insult towards Rose, elbowing her husband in the side as well, earning a grateful smile form Rose.

"Ow! Jeez woman. I'm sorry okay!" Mickey protested, rubbing his side.

"It's not me you need to apologise to!"

"Okay, okay, sheesh." Mickey turned to Rose who was watching expectantly, "Sorry, Rose."

"It's fine Mickey. It's not like I don't have years of blackmail on you." Rose said, giving Mickey a pointed look. Mickey had the decency to look a bit unnerved by that declaration, far too aware of what kind of antics Rose had seen him get into over the years.

"Maybe you can share some of that blackmail with me later Rose." Martha asked, smiling mischievously at the other woman.

Rose grinned back, recognising the olive branch. They hadn't had much time to talk yet, but this would given them a common topic to start a conversation on. "Absolutely." If possible, Mickey looked more scared.

Finch is still watching them

"Creep." Bill muttered, eyes the screen nervously.

Rose, Mickey and the Doctor shared another glance, they hadn't been aware Finch had followed them to the coffee shop, not that it mattered anymore.

Sarah Jane mentions thinking about him on the last Christmas when there was a big spaceship over London

"Wait, what spaceship? Which Christmas was this?" Rory asked, glancing between the Doctor and Rose.

"Back in 2006 the Sycorax tried to invade, Rose and Mickey helped stop them. That was the start of me having no luck with Christmas, every time I manage to land anywhere around Christmas something always goes wrong." The Doctor explained.

"Anytime you go anywhere something goes wrong." Amy snorted, earning a small pout from the Doctor.

"Yeah, that was scary." Rose nodded, focusing on the Doctor's words rather than Amy's, "You'd just regenerated and weren't even conscious half the time. I had no idea what was going on and we had the Sycorax invading too." The Doctor frowned, shooting an apologetic smile at Rose (she really should have explained the whole regeneration thing more before it happened).

The group glanced concerned at the pair, but didn't make nay more comments, curious to see where this video was going and aware that if it was important, they would see the video Rose was talking about.

The Doctor was there, so was Rose. Sarah Jane asks if she did something wrong because he just abandoned her

"Oh, Sarah Jane. My Sarah Jane. It wasn't you." The Doctor muttered to herself, watching the screen sadly. Most of the group hadn't heard her, too focused on the conversation on screen. Rose and Mickey, especially were curious – they'd missed it the first time, and while it seemed private it wasn't like they had a choice in hearing it.

The Doctor denies it, he was called home and humans weren't allowed back then

"Even in these days humans aren't really allowed … weren't allowed." The Doctor said, watching herself try to make excuses on screen was painful. She missed the concerned glances the group all shared, no one had missed her slip up in tenses when she referred to Gallifrey.

Sarah Jane missed him

"I missed you too. I always miss you all." The Doctor sighed, eyes darting to the floor. Her companions always left, one way or another they did, that was just a fact of life. She always preferred it when they left her voluntary, when they let happily and went on to continue their lives. The ones that died haunted her, always had and always would. But no matter their fate, no matter how they left, they were all ultimately lost to her and she did miss them.

River and Jack grabbed a hand each again, offering comfort with their presence as they knew that there weren't any words that they could offer to comfort the Doctor.

Sarah Jane argues he was her life, how could she go back to normal after everything she'd seen and done?

Several of the companions shifted uncomfortable, relating far too much to Sarah Jane then they were comfortable with. None of them regretted their travels with the Doctor but learning to live 'normally' afterwards was difficult, and very few of them actually managed it. Both Martha and Mickey were freelancers, Amy and Rory were stuck in the past, Rose was on a parallel universe, Bill, Clara, River and Jack were all traveling through space and time still and the fam were still with her.

Graham, Ryan and Yaz couldn't help but think if that would be them one day. It had been hard to just go back to their normal lives after everything on Gallifrey, not knowing if the Doctor was alive or coming back for them. Ryan glanced at the Doctor before swiftly looking away, he couldn't deny he'd enjoyed being home and definitely considered staying on Earth even if the Doctor came back but he hadn't mentioned his thoughts to the others. Yaz especially had been struggling with the Doctor's absence and he knew it wouldn't end well if he breached that topic yet.

Sarah Jane asks why he didn't come back

"Why didn't you go back?" Rose asked softly, like Sarah Jane she'd met the Doctor again after her departure only to leva again, but not everyone was that lucky.

The Doctor hesitated, unsure she actually wanted to (or could) answer but sighed upon seeing the room's eyes focussed on her, "I went home only to get involved in an assassination plot. Once I left again, I can't deny I thought about it but Sarah Jane had a life outside me and I just kept tumbling from one adventure to another. I just couldn't." Couldn't watch Sarah Jane die, couldn't watch her age while they stayed the same, couldn't put her in more danger than he already had, couldn't, couldn't, couldn't.

No one had anything to say to that, staying quiet until the video continued to play.

The Doctor doesn't answer, working on K9 instead. Sarah Jane tells him he didn't drop her in Croydon, but in Aberdeen, the Doctor argues they're close

"It's like the opposite side of the country! Not even the same country! Aberdeen's in Scotland which is thousands of miles from Croydon!" Donna protested for Sarah Jane's sake.

"I hit the right time!" The Doctor protested, "I'm lucky I hit the right place as often as I do, especially back in those days."

"So, what you mean is you've always been a terrible pilot." River added, teasing her wife.

"Oi!"

K9 wakes up and recognises the Doctor

"You really love that dog." Clara shook her head; honestly, she really shouldn't be surprised by any of this anymore. The Doctor had made the robot dog, of course she loved it.

Rose warns the Doctor to be careful with the oil, the Doctor argues he's not a dinner lady

"Sentences you don't hear often." Jack laughed, absolutely picturing the Doctor (both Pinstripes and the current Doctor as dinner ladies). The Doctor narrowed her eyes at him, seemingly aware of where his thoughts had ended up.

They analyse the oil. Sarah Jane defends K9 from Mickey's comments

"You're both very defensive of the dog." Mickey said.

"Rightfully so, Ricky. K9's brilliant." The Doctor shot back.

The oil is Krillitane oil

"Krillitanes?!" Jack, River and the Master all perked up, recognising the species.

"Last time I saw them they had giraffe necks; can't say they look any better now." The Master commented assessing, glancing to the Doctor who nodded happily (temporarily forgetting that she wasn't happy with the Master in place of agreement over the Krillitanes).

"I'm guessing that's not good." Rory summarised, giving the Master a wary look.

"Not at all." River answered with a glum face. She had also glanced wearily at the Master (who was looking far too smug for getting the Doctor's attention).

That's bad

"As always, you're very eloquent." Martha grinned, getting a grin from the Doctor in return.

Krillitanes are a composite race which take pieces of the races they conquer, the Doctor didn't recognise them as they've changed since he'd last seen them

"So, they must have conquered a planet of bat-people, right?" Bill asked, looking far too curious for her own good.

"Kind of, I think they'd conquered Bessan a few generations back and they had wings like that, but I don't exactly follow their full history." The Doctor tried to explain.

They're doing something to the children

"Nothing good then." Nardole muttered, going promptly ignored.

They put K9 back in the car. Sarah Jane explains K9 to Mickey, K9 is part of the Doctor's travelling group. Mickey realises he's the tin dog in the current group

The group started laughing at Mickey's realisation, while the Mickey in the room just groaned. Rose and the Doctor were laughing especially hard.

Finch is waiting. Rose asks about the Doctor's previous companions

Rose shot the Doctor an apologetic look, she understood better now why the Doctor didn't like to speak about previous companions and she knew she'd been pushy (mostly due to her jealousy and remaining uncertainties surrounding the new appearance of the Doctor). The Doctor shrugged one-heartedly, smiling softly in understanding, she knew her companions often wanted to know more, it was frankly inevitable but nonetheless painful every time.

Rose wants to know what happens to them after they stop travelling, why the Doctor never mentions Sarah Jane despite being so close to her once

The group watched the exchange uncomfortable to be, yet again, intruding on a private conversation. Although non could deny they were still curious to know the Doctor's response. Most of them had already accepted the fact they were just one in the line of many, though that didn't belittle their time or relationship with the Doctor.

The Doctor frowned, watching the conversation. She never wanted to leave nay of them behind but sometime it happened. Rose had gotten separated from her unintentionally, but ultimately, she had left Rose in the end (yes it was with the meta-crisis) but still she had done it despite her denial here. This time it was Rose who shot her a soft smile of understanding.

DOCTOR: I don't age. I regenerate. But humans decay. You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone who you
ROSE: What, Doctor?
DOCTOR: You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords.

That made the group pause, the Doctor had mentioned similar sentiments before but it was still a painful fact, and certainly explained part of the Doctor's reluctance to visit after they left.

Jack noticed the Doctor's forlorn expression and nudged her, "But you're never getting rid of me, Doctor."

"Thanks Jack." She smiled at him, appreciative of his attempt to distract her from her thoughts, even if she knew he would die at some point (she'd seen it with Martha after all) but time travel did help with that.

The Doctor felt the Master knock on the metaphoric door to their mental link and let him in reluctantly, "You're never getting rid of me either, dearest. Even after all your little pets are long dead I will be here, chasing you." She swiftly closed the mental link on him again, regretting opening it. As usual, he left her conflicted – on one hand it was reassuring that she'd never be alone on the other hand, as always, his words had a heavy tinge of a threat.

Giant bats swoop down, they duck and the Krillitane flies off to their confusion

"It wanted to know what you were." Rose realised, "Well that explains that."

The next morning back at the school - the group splits up again as the pupils arrive. The Doctor sends Rose and Sarah Jane to check the computers, giving Sarah Jane his sonic

"Are you trying to make the situation worse?" Donna exclaimed, "Men!"

"Oi!"

"Oh, apologies, Spaceman. Aliens!"

Mickey is left at the car with K9 as surveillance. The Doctor teases him

The group chuckled at the interaction between Mickey and the Doctor, they certainly had an interesting starting dynamic. Mickey and the Doctor shot each other mock glares while Rose rolled her eyes at them, apparently, they never changed.

Rory shot Mickey a commiserating look, understanding him better than most of the rest of the group. Mickey shot back an appreciative smile, glad someone understood at least some things.

The Doctor goes to talk to Finch - they meet at the swimming pool

"Dramatic stand of." Bill muttered, eyeing both the Doctor and the screen. No matter what they looked like, the Doctor was always dramatic.

Finch introduces himself as Brother Lassa, the Doctor as himself then asks about the krillitanes getting wings

"Oh, so you're just going to have a nice conversation before you get to the threats." Clara said, rolling her eyes at the Doctor who grinned unabashed.

"Needed to distract him long enough for Rose and Sarah Jane to work, and it's always nice to know who wants to kill me." The Doctor countered.

Finch talks about invading Bessan generations ago

"See, like I said they invaded Bessan." The Doctor nodded, proud of themselves for remembering that fact (it had been a long time since then).

"That's delightful, Doc. But I'm more concerned with the 'million widows' comment." Graham said, staring down the Doctor with a very grandfather-y look. That took the wind out of her sails, and earned Graham a sheepish apologetic look.

The human form is an illusion, Finch asks about the Time Lords - he's heard about them and how the Doctor's the last

"I mean he's not wrong form what I've seen." Yaz said, shooting a semi-apologetic look to the Doctor for the comment about 'her' species.

"Nah, it's okay. I've definitely called them worse to their faces before." The Doctor sighed, there was a reason (several actual) that she tried to never take her companions to Gallifrey.

Finch tells him to work out the plan when the Doctor asks

"Oh, he's confident." Amy said, eyeing Mr Finch on screen. None of them had worked out his plan yet either, but it wasn't exactly sounding pleasant.

"The taller they are, the harder they fall." Rory added to his wife's remark, earning him a smile from his wife.

Finch is intrigued by the Doctor as the Time Lords were big on no-interference but the Doctor promises to stop him. Finch thinks the Doctor will join them

The group shifted a bit uncomfortable upon hearing the Doctor's threats, it wasn't a new phenomenon to any of them but this version of the Doctor seemed to be especially good with threats. Donna couldn't help but think back to their first meeting under the Thames on Christmas day – he hadn't looked like he was going to stop anytime and here he was verging towards that kind of anger.

The Master, unnoticed by the rest of the group, smirked upon seeing the darker side of the Doctor peak out. It wasn't often that he got to see it but he always loved those moments of darkness from the Doctor, and Pinstripes had had several dark moments.

Mickey talks to K9

Mickey groaned, realising his whole conversation with K9 was going to be shown – he knew the Doctor would enjoy teasing him. He didn't miss the teasing grins sent his way as he grumbled in the car.

Sarah Jane and Rose are arguing and making little progress with the computers

"Ooh, Rosie. Still squabbling with Sarah." Jack smirked, enjoying teasing Rose (it brought back good memories of his travels with the Doctor and he didn't often get the chance anymore).

"Sarah Jane would kill you for calling her Sarah, Jack." The Doctor interrupted before Rose could try and attack Jack (or glare him into submission as she was currently trying to do).

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her."

"I'll make sure to tell her next time I see her." The Doctor continued.

"Well, I do like dangerous woman." Jack shrugged, playing nonchalant.

"You like everyone Jack." The Doctor sighed.

"And don't you know it."

Sarah Jane offers Rose advice

The Doctor tried to lean forward subtly, she had missed this conversation the first time and only come in later to be laughed at. She was very curious to know what they'd said that had ended up as friends when the last time she'd seen them they were, well not enemies, maybe rivals was the best term. Either way, she wanted to know what had been said and this was the only opportunity she would ever get.

Rose denies felling threatened by Sarah Jane's presence

"Lies." Mickey teased Rose who turned to glare at him, mouthing 'blackmail' to get him to back off.

Rose keeps making snippy comments about Sarah Jane, while Sarah Jane denies wanting to return to her old place with the Doctor

"Rose." The Doctor sighed.

"I know, I know. Don't remind me." Rose muttered back; she already had an ugly feeling of guilt stirring in her stomach. She'd been so focused on her jealousy and uncertainties that she'd almost missed the opportunity Sarah Jane represented (that opportunity being getting dirt on the Doctor and having someone who understood her).

The two argue about who's seen weirded things like mummies, werewolves and dinosaurs

"Vampires." Amy added.

"Shakespeare." Martha grinned.

"Baby fat aliens." Donna suggested.

"Pirates." Rory reluctantly added, after Amy nudged him.

"Robin Hood." Clara joined in.

"Sea monster in the Thames." Bill sat up in her seat, grinning.

"Giant spiders." Ryan added with a shiver.

"Nicola Tesla's death laser." Graham said.

"Rosa Parks." Yaz injected.

The group stared at each other for a minute before bursting out laughing, glad to see no matter how long the Doctor travelled things never got any less weird.

They realise they're being ridiculous arguing over the Doctor and instead start mocking him for things like stroking the Tardis. The Doctor comes in and they laugh at him to his confusion

"Oh, so you started bonding by mocking me?!" The Doctor pouted, that certainly explained that changed relationship and laughter.

"You make it so easy, Sweetie." River tried to comfort her wife while the rest of the group burst out laughing again.

"Please, tell me they still do all that." Rose asked the group at large. They paused in their laughter, glancing at each other before nodding in sync and then laughing even harder. It took several minutes for them all to calm down enough for the video to continue.

Finch activates the final phase, declaring they will become gods

"Oh, so he's delusional as well." Martha announced. The atmosphere had taken a 180 from the entertainment of watching Sarah Jane and Rose become friends to the situation with Finch really start to deteriorate.

Break time is interrupted and all kids ordered to get to class, some are very excited about it

"They are clearly brainwashed. No British kid is excited for school." Donna snorted, gaining nods from most of the group.

Rose turns away the kids from the IT class. Finch and the other krillitanes have an early lunch in the staff room

"Oh God." Someone muttered. The situation had certainly gotten horrible very quickly. The group had a moments silence for the death of those teachers and the rest of the staff, which no one would ever be able to properly explain.

The computer is deadlocked so the sonic can't open it, they want to know what they're teaching the kids

"Nothing good." Rory muttered, not liking how things had suddenly gotten dangerous.

Kenny doesn't go into a class

"He knows something's up." Ryan commented.

The school is locked down, in another computer room the kids are typing away as the symbols come on screen

The Master's head whipped around to face the Doctor. "Is that -?"

"The Skasis Paradigm? Yes." The Doctor nodded confirmation while the rest of the room watched on confused. Only Mickey and Rose knew what they were referring to and were frowning. Both Jack and River had looks of concentration on their face, both could have sworn they'd heard those words before but couldn't quite place why it was important and where they had heard it.

In the IT class the symbols also appear, the code slowly being resolved. Kenny tries to escape and Mickey spots him but the doors are locked

"The kid's figured out something's wrong." Clara said, glad to see that not all the kids were brainwashed.

"Yes, but why him?" Amy asked. The group all thought for a second trying to remember if they'd seen anything about him that was different.

"The Chips!" Bill suddenly announced, drawing the rooms attention. "He didn't eat the chips but everyone else did, and they had the oil on them, right?" She turned to the Doctor for confirmation who smiled proudly but waved to the screen.

Mickey tries to help, powering up K9 and hitting him as he asks for help

"Oi! Be nice to K9!" The Doctor berated upon seeing Mickey hit her dog.

"Sorry! He wasn't waking up." Mickey protested. The Doctor scowled but let it go.

K9 tells him they're in a car, it takes Mickey a few minutes to work out what he means, before waving to Kenny to get back

"Took you a while to work that out." The Doctor teased Mickey who just rolled his eyes, having expected it.

"Oh Mickey, turns out you needed the dog after all." Rose added with a grin, happy for the opportunity to tease Mickey after all the times he had done so to her.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up you two." Mickey sighed. The pair dissolved into snickers with the rest of the room following after them.

The Doctor works out it is the Skasis Paradigm

"Lovely, could you actually explain what that is now?" Donna raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, already fed up of not having the answers this video. The Doctor just smiled mischievously and waved to the screen in answer, earning a glare from Donna who reluctantly turned back to the screen.

It's the code to the building blocks of the universe. Time, space and matter can be controlled if its broken

"Okay, that's bad. Finch and the others absolutely cannot crack that." Martha announced, expression worried. That revelation added a whole new layer of bad to this mess.

"No one should have that power." The Doctor agreed, trying not to think about how they had hesitated when Finch had started talking, she wasn't proud of that.

They're using the oil to accelerate the kids learning power and use them to crack it

The group nodded along, glad to finally be getting a roper explanation and a connection for all the little threads the video had introduced. Now they just had to see how the group got out of this mess.

The oil is on the chips which Rose has been eating - she can do impossible calculations in her head

"That's so weird to hear." Rose shook her head; it was weird at the time and it was still weird now.

It has to be children as it requires imagination to crack. They're using the kid's souls not brains

"What would happen to those kids if they kept going for a long time?" Clara asked concerned for the kids.

The Doctor's grimace was all the answer she needed.

Finch enters and berates the Doctor for wanting to preserve the old order, talking of the power they could have by breaking the code

Jack groaned, "He's going to go all evil monologue and try and convince you to join him, isn't he?"

"Talking from experience?" The Doctor asked, using her typical avoidance tactic of answering questions with questions.

"I do have adventures without you. And, don't think I noticed you avoided the question Mrs." Jack answered back, narrowing her eyes at the Doctor who conveniently avoided eye contact all of a sudden.

Finch tries to tempt the Doctor to his side by offering the return of the Time Lords. The Doctor is tempted to save everyone and stop the war but Sarah Jane interferes:

SARAH: No. The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, or a relationship, everything has its time. And everything ends.

The Doctor refuses Finch

The room let out a breath they didn't know they'd been holding upon seeing the Doctor hesitate at Mr Finch's offer. They knew that he wouldn't have accepted the offer, it would go against almost everything they stood by but it was still nerve wracking to watch.

"Thank god for Sarah Jane." Jack muttered, earning a sad smile from the Doctor who had been determinedly watching the floor instead of the screen.

In his corner, the Master smirked upon seeing the Doctor hesitate, although he was annoyed that it was Finch's offer that made the Doctor considerate it and not any of his own amazing offers. It was just more evidence; the Doctor wasn't as impervious to the desire for power as they claimed to be.

Mickey drives Sarah Jane's car through the glass doors

"That looks like so much fun." Amy grinned; she'd certainly wanted to destroy her own school on several occasions.

Mickey grinned, "Honestly it was a bit scary but also sort of therapeutic." Rory glanced at his wife worried, she really didn't need any encouragement or ideas to cause trouble. It was absolutely Amy that River had gotten her chaotic streak from (River, then Melody, stealing a bus came to mind), but he had his own mischievous streak, just not anything as bad as his wife or daughter's.

Finch and the other krillitane throw off the disguises. Mickey and Kenny meet up with the other three

"Time to run." Rory sighed, but a small smile was making its way onto his face. He was glad to see things start to turn in the group's favour.

Finch orders everyone dead bar the Doctor, Kenny is very calm about the bat people being his teachers

"I love being dispensable." Rose grimaced, it happened semi-frequently with the Doctor but was never not annoying.

"I love how calm the kid is with his teachers being bat-people." Ryan grinned.

"Don't you know Ryan? All teachers are giant bat-people." Yaz grinned back.

The group hides under the tables, K9 shoots lasers at the krillitanes

"That dog is awesome." Bill grinned wildly.

"Absolutely." The Doctor grinned back, proud of K9.

They all run, K9 stays behind to give them time, his power supply is failing

The room was relieved to see the group escape unharmed, things were really heating up and they were still vastly unnumbered and the school kids were all still brainwashed. A few chuckled upon hearing Finch's description of K9.

The oil - the krillitanes have changed so much that their own oil is toxic to them

"Really? That's hilariously ironic, that their own oil can hurt them because they changed so much. You have to love biology." Martha smiled, unable to deny she was interested in that (blame it on being a doctor).

"Science is amazing in general." The Doctor agreed.

The Doctor orders Mickey to get the children out of the school while he tries to work out how to stop bats. Kenny pulls the fire alarm - the noie hurts the krillitanes

"Smart kid." Donna smiled; things were starting to look like they could actually get out of this alive.

"Oh yes, didn't even need the oil." The Doctor smiled; she'd almost forgotten that part but Kenny had been remarkably calm for the situation.

Finch pulls out the alarm wires to stop the noise and orders the krillitanes after them

Half the room grimaced at seeing their only weapon (bar K9) disabled. "At least it distracted them enough for you to get away." Amy sighed.

The Doctor is with K9 in the canteen with the oil. Mickey tries to get the kids out but they don't hear him

"I think you're actually ging to have to do something about the computers." Clara pointed out, expression turning more worried when the kids didn't respond at all.

"It can never be that easy can it." Mickey sighed.

The oil drums are deadlocked, K9 offers to blast it with his laser but his batteries are failing

"Good dog." The Doctor muttered, frowning in memory of what was going to happen, poor K9.

Mickey follows the computer lead back to a switch and turns it off. The screens go dark

"Smart but not very destructive." Rose smiled at Mickey; she'd missed that part.

"You don't need to sound surprised." Mickey shot back, not unkindly.

"I meant more that I would have wanted to destroy some stuff between the two of us I think I'm the more destructive one." Rose tried to explain, realising her comment could have been taken badly.

"True." Mickey offered a smile, telling her he understood and it was okay.

Mickey orders the kids out and they move this time. The Krillitanes disguise themselves as humans again

"What's the point of disguising themselves again?" Rory asked, watching the screen confused.

The Doctor shrugged, "Maybe they thought it would be easier to corral the kids?"

K9 has to stay at the barrels as he only has the power for one shot, he'll be trapped. The Doctor doesn't want to but he says goodbye, calling K9 a good dog before leaving

The Doctor frowned; eyes sad as she watched the screen. Even though she'd remade K9 and he wasn't really dead it still hurt to have to say goodbye to him again (especially after having reunited so recently).

The rest of the group shot her concerned looks, aware that this video had been heavy on comments and references to her companions leaving her which was always a rough topic for the Doctor. Plus, it was sad for them to see K9 go to his 'death', they'd only just met him but they'd enjoyed watching him and they could see how much the Doctor cared about them.

The Doctor seals the door behind him and tells Rose and Sarah Jane they need to run, Sarah Jane demands to know where K9 is

"Ooh, Sarah Jane's not going to take that well." Jack winced, all too aware that getting on the wrong side of Sarah Jane was a terrible idea. The Doctor's pained grimace told Jack he was right.

Finch allows the krillitanes to eat the Doctor if they find him as long as they bring Finch his brain

"You know, I don't want to know what he'd do with the Doctor's brain." Bill grimaced at the mental image, she had a couple theories but no idea how Finch would actually use the brain, and frankly she didn't want to know.

Finch and co find K9 and mock him. K9 blasts the barrel and the krillitanes are splattered with their own oil

"Oh contrary, K9 has all the power needed to destroy you." The Doctor muttered darkly, already mourning the loss of her beloved pet and friend. The people close enough to hear her glanced ta her concerned by her tone but decided it wasn't worth saying anything.

The kids are running out into the school yard. The krillitanes are burning

FINCH: You bad dog.
K9: Affirmative.

"How is even your robotic dog sarcastic?" Clara shook her head fondly, what else should she have expected of something the Doctor made.

They get out just in time before the school explodes. The kids work out it was Kenny and start celebrating him

"He's going to be a legend for the rest of his school life." Ryan grinned.

"Undeniably." Yaz matched his grin with one of her own, while she couldn't condone blowing up the school as a police officer, the situation kind of demanded it and she would have appreciated it when she was their age.

The Doctor apologises to Sarah Jane about K9, she claims its okay but bursts into tears as the Doctor tries to comfort her

The room shifted a bit uncomfortable with seeing the normally strong, Sarah Jane break down into tears over K9's loss. They could kind of understand it, as he had been her last connection to the Doctor and her friend for so long, of course his loss would hurt her. Rose and Mickey who knew the outcome of the video were reassured at least that the Doctor had solved the K9 issue in their own way.

They've relocated to a park. Sarah Jane walks up as the Doctor steps out the Tardis, he shows her the new interior. She likes it but prefers the old one

"What was it like when she travelled with you?" Amy asked, curious especially after seeing so many versions of the Tardis through the videos.

The Doctor considered that for a second, grateful for the distraction from both Sarah Jane breaking down and K9's loss, "Brighter. More like Ruth's Tardis or the one from Gallifrey. I was going through my grunge phase back then and it took a while for the Tardis to really change its console room look drastically."

The group nodded all trying to picture it based on the Doctor's description. All of them held a special place in their heart for the Tardis' appearance when they travelled with the Doctor, but it was interesting to see all the different console rooms through the videos.

Rose can no longer do complex math - the oil is faded

"That's good, it was weird seeing you all smart like that." Mickey teased Rose.

Rose raised an eyebrow, "What was that, tin dog?"

"Okay, break it up you two." The Doctor interfered before things could become heated, but the smile was obvious on her face.

Rose and Sarah Jane have made peace, they're both a match for the Doctor

"You're all a match for me in your own ways. For better or worse." The Doctor grinned at the group who all smirked back, mentally shelving it away that the Doctor had finally admitted it.

The Doctor offers for Sarah Jane to come with them. She says no, she has a bigger adventure before her and she declares its time to stop waiting and find her own life

"That you did Sarah Jane, and what a life it is." The Doctor muttered softly, almost wistful with a touch of pride. She really needed to go visit her Sarah Jane again soon.

Mickey asks to come along, Sarah Jane encourages it saying they need a Smith on board. The Doctor agrees and Rose pretends to be okay with it

"Ooh, drama on the Tardis." Jack teased the trio who all shot glares at him.

Rose then turned to shoot Mickey an apologetic look, she definitely hadn't wanted Mickey to come along with them but it had turned out for the best in the end. Mickey smiled, nodding in understanding and acceptance of the silent apology.

SARAH: Well, I'd better go.
ROSE: What do I do? Do I stay with him?
SARAH: Yes. Some things are worth getting your heart broken for. Find me, if you need to, one day. Find me.

The Doctor frowned at that comment, glad to know Sarah Jane had offered to help Rose, but depressed by the broken heart comment. She'd never intended for that to be the case, but it seemed any time a companion left it was her own two hearts that broke anyway as well.

The rest of the group glanced at the Doctor (who wasn't looking at anyone) all thinking the same thing – Sarah Jane had it right. It hurt when they left, but the travels and friends they made along the way made it worth it, as cheesy as that sounded.

Sarah Jane leaves the Tardis thanking the Doctor for everything. The Doctor declares it something to tell the grandkids though Sarah Jane argues it would be someone else's grandkids now

"Didn't need to have grandkids to pass on the stories, did you Sarah Jane? But you might have them now anyway." The Doctor smiled softly at the screen, seemingly forgetting the fact it was just a video. Her comment attracted several questioning looks from the rest of the room that didn't know Sarah Jane but no one said anything, sensing they were almost at the end of the video.

They have an awkward talk on significant others, Sarah Jane declares the Doctor a tough act to follow before saying her goodbye

"The toughest act of all." River murmured quietly, moving to take the Doctor's hand again to offer both of them comfort and reassurance. She could certainly understand Sarah Jane on several levels.

Sarah Jane asks him to reply despite his arguments its not a goodbye, he says it anyway

The room watched the departure with a bittersweet atmosphere.

"At least, you left her in the right place this time." Donna snorted, teasing the Doctor in an attempt to replace the sad look on her face with a smile. It semi-worked, a sad smile breaking across the Doctor's face.

He hugs her before returning to the Tardis, it dematerialises as Sarah Jane watched. As if vanishes K9 is left behind for her. Sarah Jane happily greets K9 as he explains that the Doctor rebuilt him, she comments he replaced him with a new model. Sarah Jane declares they have work to do

The room grinned upon seeing the new version of K9, ignoring the jolt in their hearts at the replacement comment in favour of enjoying the reunion of Sarah Jane and K9. They were glad the video hadn't been nearly as intense as some of the other videos they'd watched, it was nice for a break and interesting to see the different dynamics between groups, especially in this video with the introduction of Sarah Jane (and K9).

"Well, that's another one done." The Doctor announced, ignoring Ryan's start to hum 'Another one Bites the Dust' in the background while Yaz chuckled. "Any questions?"

"What happened to Sarah Jane? Last I saw her she was helping out with the planets in the sky-Daleks mess." Rose asked, that was one disadvantage of living on a parallel world, she had no idea what had happened to any of her friends really.

The Doctor smiled at her question, "Last I saw she was happy. Adopted two alien kids and helps a few others, all of them investigate alien troubles on Earth that Torchwood, UNIT and I miss. She's as amazing as ever."

Jack nodded along with his own smile, adding on to the Doctor's comment. "She helped Torchwood out on several occasions and helped introduce me to a network of the Doctor's former companions that are on Earth. Definitely not someone to mess with."

Martha and Mickey nodded as well, "She's introduced us to the network too and is always happy for a chat or to offer help in a situation. She consults with UNIT sometimes." Martha added as well with a smile, it had been illuminating to meet so many of the Doctor's former companions and it was great to have a support network that understood.

The Doctor clapped her hands together, successfully drawing the room's attention towards her. "Any other questions?" The group all glanced at each other but no one spoke up. "Great, how about one more video before we have a break for the night?" This time she was met with a series of nods from the group as a whole. "Okay, let's see what's up next."